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Defense & Intelligence Symposium

Tuesday, July 14, 2026 | 8:00 AM–11:30 AM

You must be registered for Esri UC to attend the symposium. Please make your reservation early as space is limited.

Gain a tactical advantage with mapping and analytics

Discover how defense, intelligence, and national security leaders are using ArcGIS to support mission planning, operations, data sharing, and enterprise-wide decision-making.

  • Mission planning

    Learn about workflows that use authoritative location data—such as elevation, terrain, and weather—to plan routes, identify defensible positions, anticipate adversary movement, and create operational contingencies.

  • Situational awareness

    Support rapid, improved decision‑making as operational circumstances evolve. Develop actionable intelligence from authoritative datasets, dynamic map layers, and real-time sensor feeds to uncover risks, mitigate threats, and identify shifts in adversary behavior.

  • Enterprise-wide data sharing

    See how ArcGIS breaks down silos by enabling commanders and staff to access shared, authoritative data across all domains, creating a common operational picture. Improve coordination and collaboration throughout your enterprise, including other services and allied nations, delivering actionable intelligence where and when it’s needed.

  • Relationship and pattern analysis

    Explore geospatial tools and strategies to identify hidden relationships among people, places, events, and networks. Use advanced analytic capabilities to support investigative workflows, reveal intent, and expose critical operational patterns.

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James Griffith

Director, Source Operations and Management, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

Jim Griffith is the Director of the Source Operations & Management at NGA. He leads NGA’s second largest operational workforce in executing a broad range of mission areas in support of national security priorities, including foundation Operations, Geomatics and Safety of Navigation efforts, Commercial GEOINT discovery, Informed Collection Orchestration and dissemination of GEOINT products and data.

Portrait of James Griffith

Lieutenant General Max “Harpo” Pearson

Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Headquarters US Air Force A2

Lieutenant General Max “Harpo” Pearson serves as the Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence. He is responsible to the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force for policy formulation, planning, evaluation, oversight, and leadership of the Air Force’s intelligence operations.

As the Air Force's senior intelligence officer, he is directly responsible to the director of national intelligence and the under secretary of defense for intelligence and security. He leads four directorates and supports a 36,000-person enterprise with a portfolio valued at $35 billion across the Air Force.

Portrait of Lieutenant General Max “Harpo” Pearson

Brigadier David Andreassen

NATO SHAPE Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS), J2

Brigadier David Andreassen (NOR) heads NATO's Allied Command Operations Intelligence Enterprise and is assigned to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) as the ACOS J2, a role he has held since summer of 2025.

A highly experienced intelligence officer across a range of disciplines with multiple combat tours across several military campaigns, he brings a wealth of experience to NATO as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe's principal intelligence and security advisor.

Portrait of Brigadier David Andreassen

Event agenda

Agenda is subject to change

Resources

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This symposium requires a reservation

Reservations help provide a better planning experience for you ahead of the event. Making a reservation is easy: Once you register for Esri UC, simply add the symposium to your schedule to save your place. Be sure to make your reservation early.

  • Step one: Register for Esri UC

    You must first register for Esri UC in order to attend the Defense & Intelligence Symposium. Once you are registered, you can make a reservation.

  • Step two: Make your reservation

    Add the symposium to your schedule to reserve your place. If it is full, you can choose to join a waiting list. Note that waiting lists are first come, first served.

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Dates and location

July 13–17, 2026

San Diego Convention Center

111 W Harbor Drive | San Diego, CA 92101 | USA

Resources

  • Meeting room request
  • Proceedings
  • Code of Conduct

Conference help

  • 1-888-377-4576
  • confregis@esri.com

Esri Events app